Miranda July’s messaging service Somebody is presented as part of First Look, the New Museum’s ongoing series of digital projects, now co-curated and copresented by Rhizome. Because the app relies on face-to-face interaction, the New Museum (along with other sites around the world) will serve as a “hotspot” for users of the app.

July’s new iOS application, Somebody™, which the New Museum is proud to copresent as part of a distributed international launch with multiple international partners (see list below), continues these profound investigations into the ways technology mediates our interpersonal communications.

July describes this new messaging service in the following way:

“When you send your friend a message through Somebody, it goes—not to your friend—but to the Somebody user nearest your friend. This person (probably a stranger) delivers the message verbally, acting as your stand-in.”

The microgrants are a commitment to browser-based art. At a moment when art contextualized within the frame of digital culture fills galleries worldwide, we think it’s important to fund projects on the internet. $500 can buy a domain name and a bit of hosting, even a case of, ahem, Club Mate for those late night coding sessions.